Your kids already did the work. The last two weeks decide whether it shows up on the one day the season is decided.

In 1992, researchers at McMaster University gave nine trained runners three different final weeks before a test. Rest made them slower. Easy running helped a little. Cutting the miles and keeping the speed let them run 22 percent longer at race pace. Coach Saltmarsh breaks down what a taper actually does, what the research says about how much to cut, and why most high school coaches taper too little or too late.

In this episode:

• What a taper does in the body, and what it can't do
• The three rules: cut the volume, keep the intensity, keep the frequency
• Why high school runners need a smaller cut than the research suggests
• The four taper mistakes coaches make every fall
• A 14-day championship taper by athlete level
• Race week: sleep, fuel, routine, and restless teenagers
• Five things to do this week

Full transcript, the 14-day taper tables:

Periodization guide

Coaching tools and the 22-Week Season Blueprint

Coach Jason Saltmarsh is a USATF Level 2 Endurance Coach with 25 years of coaching and 31 state champions.

Show notes and links

• The Science of Periodization: Building the Perfect High School XC Macrocycle
• Why famous workouts fail high school runners
• Chronic sleep debt is wrecking your season
• The 3 essential XC workouts that build a championship engine
• Pre-race warmup routine
• When fatigue becomes overtraining
• Free training pace calculator (threshold and race paces)
• 5K race strategy for coaches